Friday, February 22, 2013

Positive Posting

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While continuously pointing out the flaws in mediocre movies is enjoyable, being so negative all the time is depressing. Therefore this blog I shall attempt the impossible and write positively about an adaptation.

Last blog I gave my general opinion on adaptations, for the most part they’re not that good (especially the remakes of comic series (with very few exceptions)). This usually has to do with the story (basically the most important aspect of the movie) being utterly unfaithful to the original source material, or just not being creative enough to really bother seeing. However there is an exception to every rule and in my case I find “The Lord of The Rings (originally written by J. R. R. Tolkien)” movie series (directed by Peter Jackson) to be an exceptional example of what adaptations can be if they’re done right.

I have this opinion of this set of adaptations for several reasons. Firstly the cinematography is breath taking. The Shire is pretty much exactly what I pictured when I first read the books, Rivendell is beautiful (which is to be expected), Moria is an incredibly creepy underground labyrinth, ect. The design of the supernatural beings, the Ringwraiths, Orcs, Trolls, Ents, ect, is just plain good. The music is epic, the characters are great (Sam is my favorite) I could go on. But what I like most about these movies is the story.

Frankly it’s just done well. Partially because the right people were found to play the main characters. Also partially because redundant characters from the books (e.g. Tom Bombadil) have been removed. Lastly there is also the pro that the movie doesn’t take two chapters to describe something that could be said in a paragraph. Or in film terms, a few minutes and several good close ups, wide shots, tracking shots, panning shots, ect.

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